Nerve
by theflowercrowns
Summary: When Amity born Rosemary chooses Dauntless,she never thought it would turn out like it did.
1. 1

_CHAPTER ONE: Choosing_

A hand on her shoulder is what woke me up in the morning. Blearily, she opened her eyes and raised her fists up to rub the sleep out of them. Her mother rested on the side of the bed, her hand running through her hair.

"Good morning sweetheart, it's time to get up today." She whispered softly. Rosemary nodded, and pushed herself up, rubbing her eyes once more.

"Today's testing day isn't it?" She questioned, as she turned her head to look at her mother. Her blue eyes were filled with something that she couldn't place her finger on. She nodded. The girl breathed out a sigh before speaking again.

"We don't have classes today, since it's going to take awhile to do all the tests, I already talked to Layla, and Aurora and I are going to help in the daycare until it's time to go." The words slipped out of her mouth, as she shoved the light pink covers off her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

"Breakfast will be done in ten minutes, wake your sister up will you?" She asked, as she moved to head out the door.

"Yep!" she responded brightly. Rosemary got up, and quickly remade herbed, making sure everything looked good. Pulling a red shirt and a skirt, she left the room, and went to go wake her younger sister up. Dalia was bunched up in the covers, left leg sticking out. Rosemary couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face as she bent down to get closer to the girls level.

"It's time to wake up Dalia." She whispered softly as she ran her hand up and down the girl's back. The kid let out a whine as she yawned and opened her eyes.

"Time to get up kiddo, breakfast is going to be done in a few. So get dressed and brush your hair."

"Mmhmm." Was all the response she got. Shaking her head, the girl left, and headed down the hall.

"Need help with anything?" She questioned as she walked into the kitchen, her mother finishing up in the kitchen.

"It's all good, just need to be put on the table. Your brother and father should be coming inside in a few minutes." Rosemary nodded as she grabbed the water pitcher and placed it on the table, and went back to grab the cups. Shuffling sounded as her sister made it into the kitchen, and flopped down at her seat. The air was quiet for a few moments until the front door opened and the voices of her father and brother reached her ears.

"Breakfast is done! Go wash up you two." Her mother called out to them, as she started to place the dishes on the table, pressing a kiss to her daughter's heads. Breakfast was a joyful affair, talking about everything. When Rosemary was done, she glanced at the small clock on the wall and her eyes widened.

"I have to go! I'm supposed to meet Aurora at ten!" She called out, as she placed her dishes in the sink, and quickly went over to where her shoes were and shoved them on. "I'll be back after my test!"

* * *

"Jackson, get back here!" Rosemary turned the corner, chasing after the little boy who seemed to be wanting to avoid nap time. He screamed gleefully but was stopped by Aurora who scooped him up. The teen breathed out, a grin on her face.

"Need a little help?" She asked her friend as she started back to the room. Rosemary nodded, catching her breath.

"Didn't want to go down for nap time, got away when I wasn't looking." She replied back, watching as Aurora finally got the boy to lay down. The two went to their spots in the corner, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"Nervous at all?"

"I mean, a little bit. Everyone already knows where they're going, me on the other hand, I have no clue."

"Just trust the test Rose, and follow your heart."

"Thanks, it's just that this sets up the rest of our lives, can't make a quick decision."

"We'll be okay. Who knows, maybe we'll go to the same faction." Aurora smiled. Rosemary sighed softly, resting her elbows on her knees, and her chin in her hands. She had known since she was twelve that she wasn't going to be staying in Amity. It just wasn't for _her_. She wanted more in her life, something more meaningful. More excited. This would finally be the escape that she had always wanted.

There was a nagging feeling that her mother just _knew_ that she would be leaving, but something told her that her mother would be okay with it. Rose only hoped that those feelings were right.

At noon, they were notified that they best head to the school since the test would be starting soon, and the pair headed out and got onto the truck with their friends and other eighteen year olds. The ride was filled with nervousness but the smiles never lifted from their faces as they chatted. Hoping down from the back, Rosemary helped Aurora down, as she pulled her hair up and out of her face as they started to walk into the school where the tests were to be held at.

The cafeteria was split into different factions. Dauntless were playing some dare game, the Candor were talking rapidly, hands moving out and about, and the Erudite were hunched over their books. Amity filled in the remaining tables, and luckily Rosemary was able to sit next to Aurora. Her fingers twisted into the bottom of her shirt, her her nerves building as the names started to get called.

"From Amity, Aurora Scott and Rosemary Stone!" Was called out, and the friend glanced at each other before getting up and following the person that called their name. A woman in Abnegation clothing was preparing the equipment, as Rose stepped in, letting the door shut behind her. The woman smiled softly at her, as she finished.

"Have a seat please." her voice was soft, and Rose sat down on the chair, laying back against it. A vial of something blue was pressed into her hand, and she arched her brow at the woman.

"Drink it, it'll take about 30 seconds to take effect." Shrugging, she let the contents of the vial spill down her throat. It was cool as it went down, and she could already feel the effects of it. Then everything went black.

* * *

_A room full of mirrors is what she first noticed, the second was the three bowls. One had a knife, the second had cheese and the third had meat. _

"_Choose." _

_What? _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_Choose." sounded again. At the last second, almost like on instinct, the brunette grabbed the knife, and watched as the bowls disappeared. Was the test really going to be that easy? _

_Nah, it couldn't be. _

_A split second later, she heard a growl. From the other side of the room, she could see a large dog stalking its way towards her. Then she heard a child's voice. _

"_Puppy!" And the animal started running. As it leaped over her to get to the child, she had a split second to think, and shoved the blades into its chest. _

_The scene changed again. _

_Now she was on a train, and a man appeared to be asking her something. _

"_What?" _

"_I said, do you know this man?" He practically shoved the newspaper into her face. Glancing down at it, she had that feeling that she had seen the man, but biting her lip she replied. _

"_I have not." Instantly the man's expression turned into anger. _

"_Liar!" He threw the paper to the floor, and started to charge at her. He paused for a second, sizing her up, before throwing the first punch. She let out a gasp as it made contact with her cheek, and stepped back. This went on for a minute, before she got a shot, and punched as hard as she could back. _

_Unluckily the man was near the opening of the train, and the punch sent him stumbling back, and made his foot slip. Last thing she saw was the man tumbling to his quick death before everything went black once more._

* * *

Jolting up, she could feel her heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute.

"It's okay, you're okay." She could hear the woman speak to her, and after a couple deep breaths she felt like she could breathe again. From the side she could hear typing, and quietly asked the woman what her results were.

"You received Dauntless. Which for an Amity, doesn't happen that often." Somehow Rosemary wasn't surprised that she received that. She always did love watching them jump off the train before school, and always wondered what it would be like to do that herself.

"You can head home now dear, and good luck." Composing herself, she left the room quietly, heading down the hallway that lead to the side exit. The walk home was filled with her getting lost in her thoughts.

_Which one would she pick? _

_Could she be brave and go with her heart? _

_Or should she stay where life as she knows it is easy. _

Blowing out a sigh, she could see the outskirts of Amity appearing. Could she even tell her parents that she got Dauntless, or should she just keep it to herself. Her mother was out in the garden when she arrived home, and could see the distress on her daughters face. Plopping down, she rested her head on her knees before speaking.

"I got Dauntless." She whispered out, not having the courage to look at her mother.

"Okay, and?"

"Wait, so you're not mad or upset?" Her mother ran her hand down her back, pulling her close.

"Not at all. I was Dauntless born, I should of seen it coming with you. You always were the wild one, trying new things." A laugh escaped her mouth. "What ever you pick, I will always love you no matter what."

* * *

As the night came to an end, and as Rosemary got ready for bed, she hugged her parents a bit tighter, and her sister a bit longer. Tomorrow was when it would all change, and who knew, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.


	2. 2

Light streamed in through the window, and a yawn escaped her lips as she slowly started to wake up. Yawning again, she pulled herself up, running a hand through her hair to try to tame it. From down the hall, she could hear her mother waking her sister up, and probably to allow Rose more time to think about today.

_The Choosing Ceremony._

_This would be the start of her new life._

_She just had to carefully choose her new faction._

_No pressure whatsoever._

Huffing, she let herself flop back down, covering her eyes with her arm. A knock sounded on her door, pulling her back into reality.

"Gotta get up sweetheart, we have to leave in about twenty minutes." Her mother's voice sounded. Groaning out, Rosemary forced herself up, and got out of bed. She made her bed one last time, and instead of a skirt, chose a pair of pants she had gotten from her mother, not wanting a skirt to slow her down. Sliding a pair of flats and a shirt on, she ran her comb through her hair and tied it up into a bun.

She could do this.

Letting her eyes cast over her room one last time, she let the door shut. Sighing, she made her way to where her family was waiting and ruffled her sisters hair, earning a "stopppp" from the girl.

Laughing, the family left the house, joining up with some of their parents' friends as they started to load into trucks. Rosemary smiled and waved at Aurora, as her friend came into view. The air was electric, as members greeted each other, and started striking up conversations. She sat next to Dalia, and softly spoke to her.

"Make sure you're good for mom and dad. Be the best that you can be and then some. I love you, more than you'll ever know." and pressed a kiss to her head. The girl nodded, and leaned into her sister's touch. The truck started up, and they headed out.

They were the third ones to arrive, after the Erudite and Abnegation, and helped everyone out of the trucks. Heading in, Rosemary stuck close to her mother's side, a sudden wave of nervousness washing over her.

"You'll be amazing." Her mother spoke to her, as they sat down, her eyes wandering around the room time and time again. From her spot, she saw the side door open and a large amount of Dauntless came in, talking loudly amongst themselves. She could see the new leader of Erudite setting the final touches before tapping on the microphone to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome, to this year's Choosing Ceremony. As they are now eighteen, our dependents stand on the cusps of adulthood, it is now up to them to decide who they will be. Will they join Dauntless, The brave? Amity, the kind and peaceful? Candor, honest and truthful? Erudite, the wise or Abnegation the selfless? They start the rest of the Names will be called in reverse alphabetical order." She paused to softly clear her throat. "Alissa Zur."

Rosemary could see a small girl from Candor stand up, and walk over and up onto the stage. She grasped the knife handed to her, and slit the palm of her hand, without a second thought, she thrust her now bleeding hand over the crystal clear glass of the Candor bowl. The girl let out a breath, as she walked back to her seat, recieving hugs from her friends.

She watched as someone from her own faction, Charlie Zale became the first Amity transfer, letting his blood spill into the water of Erudite. It went on like this, with only one other Amity transferring, Alexandra to Abnegation. Finally, her own name was called.

"Rosemary Stone!" With a smile from her sister and father, and a kiss on the forehead and side hug from her mother, Rosemary stood, took a deep breath and made her way from her spot to the stage. Her legs were slightly shaking as she climbed the steps, twisting her fingers together. Cara held out the knife, offering her a smile when she accepted it. Rosemary pulled it across her palm, and set it down, glancing at the bowls. She wasn't always honest and truthful, that ruled Candor out. Having her nose in a book all day sounded terrible, and she couldn't imagine working on the farms the rest of her life, that left Abnegation and Dauntless.

But, for Rose, she wanted something _thrilling_, something to add _purpose_ to her life. Deciding on that, she let the blood in her palm fall into the burning coals of Dauntless. The Dauntless sector erupted in cheers, as she felt someone hand her a clothe, and she walked over to her new Faction. Sitting next to a boy in Abnegation clothing, she wrapped the piece of cloth around her hand and held it tightly. She watched shocked as Aurora let her blood spill onto the coals, casting her a thumbs up and a smile.

After the last person, -Talia Abel, Dauntless born- chose Candor, the Dauntless born that stayed rose and went out the door where they broke into a run. Finally looking back at her parents, she mouthed an '_i love you' _ and followed the other transfers out the door. Her and Aurora matched pace for pace on their run to catch up, pausing for a moment as they watched the other climb the track beams. Grinning at her friend, Rosemary placed her hand on the first rung and started the journey breath was coming out in pants as she hoisted herself up onto the side of the track.

"Well that was fun!" Aurora gasped out, take a large breath in.

Rose nodded, and her eyes widen as she saw some of the members way in the front started running.

"Shit, looks like we're jumping!" She called out, and straighten up, watching as member after member took a couple steps before jumping on. Grabbing her friend hand, she gripped tightly as they followed what the people before them started doing. They busted into a run, watching as the edge of the platform before jumping. Falling into a heap on the floor of their department.

"This is easy. Almost two easy." Rose spoke out, a grin on her face. "Now we just wait."

True to her word, around twenty minutes later she saw a building in the Dauntless building. Black blobs started jumping out their respective carts, and landing on the build. The friends jumped together again, separated when they landed. Rose hissed out as she felt her hands and knees scrape against the asphalt roof. Standing up, her wiped the rocks and dust from her knees, Rose helped Aurora up, and walked over with a couple other transfers.

"Alright listen up!" A male's voice rang out, gathering everyone's attention, "I'm Eric, one of your leaders here in Dauntless. You survived two tasks already. Here is the third. This is the way in."

"They want us to jump again?" She could hear a boy ask.

"Either this or your factionless." Was Eric's response. "Any volunteers?"

Aurora's hand slipped from her own, and she watched as her friend called out, "Yeah. me." And marched her way through the group.

_God Damn it Aurora_!

Her friend smiled and jumped off, and without second thought, pushed her way up. She felt the leader's eyes on her, as she climbed up onto the ledge. The hole seemed a long way down. Gulping down a breath, she closed her eyes and jumped.

The trip down lasted a couple seconds before she hit something rough. A net, she noted as she bounced a couple times. A laugh escaped her, and she felt the net being pulled down. A man with dark brown eyes helped her down.

"What's your name?" He questioned her, eyebrow arched.

"Uh, uhm." She struggled to think.

"We don't have all day, you can change it if you want to."

"Zara, my name is Zara."

"Second jumper; Zara!" The man called out, and sent me a smile.

"Welcome to Dauntless Zara."


	3. 3

Chapter Three:

Standing next to Aurora, now named Rori, she watched as the last person was helped down. The air down below was cold, and Zara shivered.

"I can't believe that we just did that!" She heard Rori whisper, excitedly into her ear, as she saw the man who helped them down turn to the group.

"Alright! Listen up!" He yelled out, and the chatting instantly stopped. "Dauntless born will go with Lauren, we assume that you won't need a tour." At that the group split, easily half of them going with Lauren, who turned and started to lead them to where they needed to go. Turning to look around Zara counted who all was left. There were 15 of them. Her and Rori from Amity, Three from Abnegation, Six from Erudite and four from Candor. She could tell that they were already singled out.

The man continued, " Most of the time I work in the Control room, but for the next few months, I am your instructor. My name is Four." Zara could hear sniffles of laughter from some of the other initiates, and kept her face blank. "Now follow me, we're about to go to the Pit, which some day you'll learn to love." He took off, and the group followed. Turning down the hall a couple times, Zara knew that it would take her a while to learn the lay out of the faction.

Four reached a set of double doors, and threw them open. The word Pit, best described it. It was a cavern, and from her viewpoint, Zara couldn't see the end of it. She could see stores as well as a couple food places as well as narrow sidewalks. The ceiling was all glass and she could see the sun starting to slowly set. Hanging on the walls every couple of steps were lanterns. The noise was a bit overwhelming for Ro, she could barely hear Four as he spoke again.

"Follow me, I'll show you all to the Chasm." He takes them through the Pit, and through the other side of it, where as the noise of the pit went quiet, the sound of rushing water replaced it. The ground drops off a couple feet, and from her spot, she spotted a bridge connecting the two sides. Water sprayed up, hitting Ro's side as Four continued on. " The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy. A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again." Zara could see a few alcoves, and knew that this would be the perfect getaway whenever she needed it.

"This is so cool!" She whispered to Rori, who nodded, a grin on her face. Continuing their little journey, they were led to a dining hall, where they received applause as they walked in. Zara and Rori were able to snag the last two seats next to the three Abnegation girls, who were talking quietly amongst themselves. Food was already on the table, as well as trays were already in front of each spot. Eyeing the thing of beef in front of her, Zara grabbed on, placing it onto her tray. Grabbing the bread, she slipped the circle of beef onto it, and tentatively took a bite. Besides it being a bit bland, it wasn't terrible.

"You ready for this?" She heard a soft voice speak. Looking up, she could see one of the girls from Abnegation looking at her. Swallowing the bite, she responded.

"Hell yeah! I knew from an early age that I just couldn't stay in Amity, so I'm excited and ready." She spoke, as Rori passed her a water glass already filled. "I'm Ro, by the way, former Amity."

"Elena, former Abnegation. These are my friends, Mack and Tatia." Pointing to her friends, who smiled and waved at her. The girls settled into a quiet conversation as they ate. Talking about their upbringings, and what they're most excited about. Looking up at the ledge at the sound of heavy footsteps, she could see the man from the roof- Eric- surveying the room. His lips curled into a sneer at the sight of her and Rori, no doubt at their still bright clothes. From here, she could point out the multiple piercings as well as the tattoos on his neck. She wasn't going to lie, he was attractive.

Dinner was finished and once all of the transfers were done, Four led them out of the dining hall. Explaining that they were headed to the dorms, where they were to change. Opening the door, there was a slight gasp as they all realized how _open_ the room was. There was a ghost of a smirk on Four's face.

"If you think this is great, wait till you see the bathroom. Now, there are two piles of clothes on the beds, they should fit for now. You'll be able to go out and get new ones tomorrow after training. You'll each receive the same amount of points to spend on whatever, but these will be the only points you get for this section of training, so use them wisely."

Zara and Rori quickly changed, using the other as a shield from the boys. Pulling her hair back up, she pulled the pants up, tucking the bottoms in. It felt weird to be dressed in all black, but at the same time, it felt right. Rori had found them an empty bunk to claim as theirs, next to Tatia and Elena.

"Follow me, we have one more thing to do and then it's lights out." Was it already that late? They once again followed Four, as he led them down the hallway, taking a right and then a left. "Here is where you'll throw your clothes, to sever your ties with your birth faction. You're Dauntless now." An Erudite was first, followed by his friends. Zara was the last one, and with a second glance at the colorful clothing, threw them into the depths of the fire pit. She felt free almost.

Later that night, once everyone had fallen asleep, Zara glanced up at the ceiling. She had tried to sleep, but yet it still hasn't come. Flipping her pillow over, she flipped onto her side. She missed her mother, and family, but she had made the right choice. After flipping over a few more times, she fell into a dreamless sleep.


End file.
